TechSpot Metascore

Excellent:

Good:

Average:

Bad:

User Score

The Ryzen 5 1600 is an exceptional value. On productivity workloads that can take advantage of multiple threads the Ryzen 1600 is great and it holds its own when gaming, too. How can you not love a 6-core/12-thread CPU that can be overclocked to 4 GHz using the stock cooler for under $200.

Expert reviews and ratings

We've have a pretty good look at application and game performance. As expected Intel's faster in games for the most part, while AMD's faster for most of the heavy workloads we tested, that being the situation this is how I look at it. Even with a GTX...

Our most recent CPU roundup pitted Intel's 7th and 8th-gen Core i5 and Core i7s against AMD's Ryzen 5 and 7 by playing and benchmarking nine representative PC games at multiple resolutions. In total eight new CPUs were tested at their base clock...

The Ryzen 5 1600 is an exceptional value. On productivity workloads that can take advantage of multiple threads the Ryzen 1600 is great and it holds its own when gaming, too. How can you not love a 6-core/12-thread CPU that can be overclocked to 4 GHz using the stock cooler for under $200.

The Ryzen 5 1600 from AMD retails at a very affordable price and it actually beats the Intel 7500 & 7600-K when it comes to multi-threaded apps; it also features HTT / SMT which the competing chips from Intel lacks. It's also really good that their...

The Ryzen 5 lineup has put an end to Intel's Core i5 lineup because you now have the option of getting either a 6C/12T or 4C/8T processor while the Core i5 lineup is all 4C/4T. Multi-threaded performance will be significantly better with any Ryzen 5...

AMD Ryzen 5 1600 Best value with AMD's 219 USD six-core proc.We put what could be the best value Ryzen 5 processor to the test as we benchmark the six-core Ryzen 5 1600 (without the X). The 1600 will be tested and overclocked to see how much value you...

The AMD Ryzen 5 1600 processor is going to epitomize the "value sweet spot" with its $220 price point. If you are not that person that knows they need a bunch of cores for encoding or rendering, then there is likely no reason for you to buy a 8-Core CPU...yet. However, I can argue that if you want any kind of CPU built for "the future," the 6-Core Ryzen 5 CPU can likely at least deliver you there. I like the Ryzen 5 1600. I like it a lot. AMD is delivering a lot of desktop processing power for the money.

Compared to the Ryzen 5 1600X the 5 1600 provides substantial savings. Foregoing 400MHz (~12.5% clock speed) saves you $30 plus the cost of a cooler ~$45. On a theoretical $750 system that means that you are saving about the performance impact. If you were to overclock the chips it is likely you would find the difference to be even less.

How Much Does it Cost?The AMD Ryzen 7 2700 8-core 16-thread CPU with Wraith Spire RGB Cooler is available now from most major retailers. It's priced at just £248.50 on Amazon, which is quite a bit cheaper than the 2700X. The inclusion of a slick cooler...

How Much Does it Cost?AMD Ryzen 5 2600 Processor 6-core 12-thread CPU with Wraith Stealth CPU cooler is priced at just £167 right now (£175 MSRP). The AMD Ryzen 7 2700 8-core 16-thread CPU with Wraith Spire RGB Cooler is £248.50 also, and for two fewer...